Homelessness (SDF): How to obtain a residence?

Verified 11 October 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you do not have a permanent address, the residence allows you to have a proof of domicile and an address to receive mail. It also allows you to access rights and benefits (for example, you can register to vote or obtain legal aid). When your application for residency is accepted, you will receive a certificate. Residency is granted for a period of 1 year. This period shall be renewable.

The residence allows you to have proof of domicile and receive mail.

It also enables certain obligations to be fulfilled and certain rights and benefits to be asserted (examples: identity card, voter registration, legal aid).

You are homeless if you do not have an address to receive mail in a consistent and confidential manner.

This is the case, for example, if you do not have a personal home.

Please note

if you are an asylum seeker, a specific domicile arrangement applies.

You must have a link with the municipality (or group of municipalities) for which you are requesting domiciliation.

You are considered to have this link if you are in one of the following situations:

  • You stay in the municipality on the date of application for residency
  • You carry out a professional activity in the municipality
  • You benefit from an integration action or social, medical-social or professional follow-up in the municipality (or you have taken steps to benefit from it)
  • You have family ties with someone who lives in the commune
  • You exercise parental authority on your minor child who is attending school in the municipality

Your request for residency can be sent by email, paper mail or directly to a CCAS: titleContent or an inter-communal center for social action (CIAS).

You can obtain the contact details of a CCAS or a CIAS from the City Hall.

Who shall I contact

If your request is sent by mail or paper mail, you must fill in a form and send it to the CCAS or CIAS.

Application and decision for residence (persons without stable residence or homeless persons)

Warning  

for municipalities with less than 1,500 inhabitants without CCAS and CIAS, the application for residence is made directly to the town hall. You can also make your request to an organization approved by the prefect of the department whose contact details you can obtain from the city hall.

You are interviewed after your application for residency.

The purpose of this interview is to inform you about your rights to residency and the obligations arising therefrom. In particular, you have the obligation to report to the body that has made the domiciliation at least once every 3 months.

The interview is also used to raise your awareness of the importance of regularly withdrawing your mail, particularly for collecting your fees and benefits.

The order of domicile must be given to you within 2 months.

Any refusal must be justified and must be notified in writing.

If the decision is favorable, you will receive a certificate of address for service:

Proof of domicile (persons without permanent residence or homeless persons)

Residency is granted for a period of 1 year. This period shall be renewable.

Domiciliation ends in 3 cases:

  • Either at your request (you have found a sustainable housing solution)
  • Either because you no longer have a connection with the municipality or the group of municipalities
  • Either because you did not physically present yourself or did not make a call for more than 3 consecutive months to the organization that gave you the attestation (unless you were absent due to health reasons or incarceration)

Application and decision for residence (persons without stable residence or homeless persons)